


Surprise

by HopeCoppice



Series: Same Earth [4]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M, Same Earth AU, some very lightly implied Cisco/Lisa if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-10 06:08:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6942937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeCoppice/pseuds/HopeCoppice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry's birthday is coming up, and he's disappointed to hear that he can't visit Winn in National City.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surprise

Barry’s not as stupid as some people seem to think. He can tell when his friends are hiding things from him. If it wasn’t coming up to his birthday, he might be worried, but they’re probably working up to surprising him with a cake at STAR labs. Wells' face should be a picture; Barry’s pretty sure he’s the type to object to food in the lab. Barry hopes Wells never has a reason to rummage through Cisco’s desk. There are some deeply inappropriate starches in there, which Barry is very glad of when he comes back from missions starving.

 

So his friends are keeping secrets from him, and that’s OK. But it’s nice, at the end of the day, to be able to pick up the phone and talk to someone who isn’t hiding anything from him. Winn answers quickly.

“Hey, Barry. How was your day?”

“Winn!” It’s good to hear his voice. “Yeah, great, thanks. Got some bad guys off the streets. How was yours?”

“Got some nasty-looking viruses off the system before they could cause any trouble.”

“Sounds unpleasant. You’re not contagious, are you?”

“Ah, ha, you are hilarious.”

“I know. So, uh… do you have any free time next week? Maybe I could come and see you?”

There’s a long pause before Winn answers. “I’m not sure. Ms Grant’s pushing everyone pretty hard lately with the new website launch coming up. I just got in a moment ago tonight, and that’s-”

“It’s 10pm, Winn. You start work at 8, don’t you?”

“8.30, _officially_ , but… yeah. It’s been a long day.”

“Well, I hope things ease up soon. Look, I’d love to talk, but you must be exhausted. You should go to bed, I’ll talk to you soon, OK?”

“I’m…” Winn can’t stifle a yawn, though. “...Yeah, you know what, I really am wiped. Talk soon, gorgeous.”

“Night, hottie.” Barry hangs up and cringes. Winn might sound a little uncomfortable calling him _gorgeous_ , but at least he seems to have settled on a pet name and is sticking with it. Barry can’t seem to find anything that feels right, and every time he tries a new endearment he immediately wants the ground to swallow him up. It’s a miracle that Winn isn’t laughing at him, but then he’s probably too tired to laugh at him.

 

It’s a shame that Winn is so overworked, because Barry would have really liked to see him for his birthday. Winn, of course, doesn’t _know_ it’s nearly Barry’s birthday; they haven’t been together long, and Barry doesn’t want his boyfriend to feel any pressure to buy him a gift or to do anything special for him. Still, he can’t help being a little disappointed. It would be nice to see Winn.

* * *

 

Barry’s birthday is alright. It’s pretty good, actually. It falls on a Saturday, so his family and friends are free to celebrate with him, and Central City manages to refrain from catching fire, freezing over, or otherwise becoming blown up, so they can actually _celebrate_. Everyone seems to have plans for the evening, but that’s alright; they open presents and eat cake at lunchtime. It’s a shame when people begin to drift away, but Cisco lingers after everyone else has left, obviously less than keen to abandon him. Barry’s grateful for his best friend, but he’s pretty sure he overheard Cisco talking about a date tonight, yesterday at STAR labs.

“Hey, let’s go to Jitters. I’ll shout you a birthday cupcake.”

“We just _had_ cake.”

Cisco raises an eyebrow at him. “You act like I don’t know about your bottomless-pit metabolism. Come on, Flash. Get a move on.”

“Fine. But I know you’ve got a date, so we’ll make this quick, alright?”

His best friend frowns at him, but shrugs. “Yeah, OK. I won’t hang around for too long.”

“Good. You don’t have to give up your evening for me.”

 

They arrived outside Jitters chatting amicably, though Cisco's fiddling with his phone and Barry knows he must be texting his date to let them know he’ll be late.

“Seriously, you can-” But as the speedster puts his hand on the door, the familiar purr of a motorbike engine revs up nearby. Before Barry can react, Golden Glider has pulled up and yanked Cisco bodily onto her bike.

“Oh no!” Cisco sounds less worried than he ever has in his life. “I appear to be being kidnapped! Go… go to Jitters without me! Caffeinate yourseeeeeelf!” And with that dramatic performance, the bike - and his friend, and his enemy - speeds off, darting and weaving through traffic as they go.

 

Barry rolls his eyes good-naturedly; Cisco’s crush on Lisa Snart is among the worst-kept secrets in Central City, and she probably won’t hurt him if it's more entertaining not to. If there's one thing nobody can dispute about Cisco, it's that he's entertaining. Barry doesn’t really fancy getting a birthday cupcake on his own - maybe he can go home and chat to Winn while he works, or something. He’ll just grab a coffee to go, pop by the precinct and pick up some case files, and they can work together over the phone, or by webcam, or something.

 

All such thoughts leave his head when he walks into the café and spots a balloon. The balloon is tied to a present sitting on a table. And sitting behind the table is-

“Winn?” His boyfriend looks up and waves sheepishly. “Winn!” It's a struggle not to blur into superspeed as he throws himself at him. “What are you doing here?”

“Surprising you for your birthday! Er… surprise?”

“How did you know?”

“OK, firstly, your friends are nicer than you and wouldn’t let me miss it. And secondly, I’m, like, an awesome computer geek, as if I couldn’t find out.”

“...Fair point. Oh my God, I just… How are you in Central? I could have come to you, you didn’t have to-”

“I got on a bus. Well, two buses, actually, but who’s counting. Kara says she’ll come and pick me up in- er…” Winn stops, blushing furiously.

“In… a limousine?” Barry teases.

“In, er, in the morning. I got a hotel room, I thought you might want to share it.”

“You’re _perfect_ ,” Barry breathes, finally remembering to release his boyfriend from the hug. “Let’s go.”

“Nuh-uh.” Winn indicates the chair opposite him. “You have a birthday cupcake to eat and I’m getting you a coffee.”

Barry whines softly, but takes his seat, noticing at last that there _is_ a cupcake sitting on top of the present. While Winn fetches a coffee for him - he insists - Barry cuts the cupcake in half. He can be stubborn, too.

* * *

The next morning, sunrise finds them passed out together on a soft hotel bed, surrounded by empty pizza boxes. Barry opens his eyes, takes in his surroundings, and rolls over with a lazy smile. He can’t just watch Winn sleep, adorable as he is - he's not some kind of creep. However, if his gaze happens to fall on him every so often as he texts Cisco to make sure he hasn’t been murdered or gilded, well, that's just an innocent accident.

 

The vibration, a couple of hours later, of Cisco’s return text-

_All good, bro. You know she’s got a heart of gold really ;)_

-is enough to make Winn stir, stretching and pressing his whole body against Barry as he nuzzles into the hand stroking his hair.

“Good morning, old man.”

“Morning, young whippersnapper.” Barry doesn’t actually know if Winn's younger than him or not, but what the hell - it wasn’t _his_ birthday yesterday.

“Mm. No, ‘nough of that. Cisco OK?”

“He was in on this?”

“ _Everyone_ was. Kara won’t be up til, like, _way_  later, want to do something ‘til then?”

“Yeah, sure. How about I finally show you my city?”


End file.
